PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Baseball Club Game Notes - July 26, 2024

Published on July 26, 2024 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Tacoma Rainiers (13-11/56-43) at Oklahoma City Baseball Club (9-15/49-50)

Game #100 of 150/Second Half #25 of 75/Home #49 of 75

Pitching Probables: TAC-LHP Jhonathan Diaz (8-2, 4.04) vs. OKC-RHP Walker Buehler (0-2, 4.12)

Friday, July 26, 2024 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 7:05 p.m. CT

Radio: KGHM-AM 1340 The Game, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio; Video: MiLB.tv, Bally Live

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Baseball Club will try to even its series against the Tacoma Rainiers when the teams meet at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. OKC trails Tacoma, 2-1, in the six-game series after a loss last night and is now 1-4 in the last five games and 8-15 since June 26...OKC's overall season record is below .500 for the third time this month as OKC is now 49-50 and the team will try to avoid dropping to two games below .500 for the first time since Sept. 2, 2021 when the team was 50-52.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Baseball Club brought the potential game-winning run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning but fell short in a 5-3 loss to the Tacoma Rainiers Thursday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Trailing by two runs, Trey Sweeney and Diego Cartaya drew back-to-back walks with two outs to put the potential game-tying runs on base for Oklahoma City, but Tacoma pitcher Joey Krehbiel struck out Alan Trejo to end the game. OKC took the first lead of the night in the third inning on a solo home run by Chris Owings for a 1-0 lead. The Rainiers quickly took the lead in their next at-bat, tying the score on a solo home run by Samad Taylor before a RBI single by Kobe Kato put Tacoma in front, 2-1. Tacoma scored three more runs in the sixth inning on a two-run triple by Kato and a RBI groundout by Ryan Bliss for a 5-1 lead. OKC scored two runs in the seventh inning on a RBI double by Sweeney and RBI single by Trejo.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Walker Buehler (0-2) opens a Major League Rehab Assignment with OKC and makes his first appearance overall since mid-June...The two-time MLB All-Star has been on Los Angeles Dodgers' 15-day Injured List since June 19 with right hip inflammation. He last pitched June 18 with the Dodgers in Colorado, allowing seven runs and seven hits, including two homers, with one walk and two strikeouts over 4.0 innings...He has made eight starts with LAD this season, going 1-4 with a 5.84 ERA over 37.0 IP with 31 strikeouts against 10 walks...He made five rehab starts with OKC earlier this season in March and April as he recovered from Tommy John surgery and flexor tendon repair in his right elbow that had kept him out of the Dodgers lineup since June 2022...Buehler made 12 starts for the Dodgers in 2022, posting a 6-3 record and 4.02 ERA over 65.0 innings through early June with 17 walks against 58 strikeouts before undergoing Tommy John surgery for the second time...Buehler was named to the 2021 and 2019 National League All-Star teams and helped the Dodgers to their 2020 World Series Championship...Overall, Buehler has compiled a 47-20 record and 3.17 ERA over 675.1 IP with a 1.06 WHIP and .218 opponent average over seven Major League seasons...Buehler was selected by the Dodgers in the first round (24th overall) of the 2015 MLB Draft out of Vanderbilt University...He last pitched against Tacoma March 31 in his first appearance of the season. Over 3.1 innings, Buehler (0-1) allowed four runs (three earned) on three hits, including a home run, with two walks and two strikeouts and was charged with the loss.

Against the Rainiers: 2024: 2-4 2023: 6-9 All-time: 64-70 At OKC: 40-29 The Rainiers and OKC meet for their second of three series of 2024 and first six-game series of the season...The teams opened the season against one another for a second straight year and the Rainiers won the three-game set, 2-1, at Cheney Stadium taking the first and third games, with all three games decided by one or two runs. Both teams scored 15 runs apiece. OKC hit five homers during the series and Andre Lipcius led the way for OKC, collecting five hits and five RBI as well as two homers...Last season, Tacoma won the season series, 9-6, and the Rainiers were one of three teams OKC posted a losing head-to-head record against, along with Albuquerque and Salt Lake. The Rainiers were also one of two teams to win five out of six games in the same series against OKC last season Aug. 8-13 at Cheney Stadium. It was the first time OKC lost five games within a series since Aug. 26-31, 2021 at home against Las Vegas, going 40 six-game series between 1-5 results, and OKC had not opened a series with three straight losses since losing four in a row to begin a home series against Round Rock Aug. 9-12, 2022, going 26 series between 0-3 starts...In 15 meetings last season, Tacoma outscored OKC, 99-86, and hit 24 homers compared to OKC's 22. Tacoma drew 85 walks in the season series - 29 more than OKC...OKC has lost back-to-back season series against the Rainiers for the first time since 2006 and 2007...The teams meet 15 times in 2024, including 12 games in OKC with another six-game series upcoming at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark Sept. 10-15...Going back to 2022, OKC is 10-18 over the last 28 games against the Rainiers. Tacoma has won four of the last five games in OKC.

Century Club: OKC plays its 100th game of the 2024 season tonight, reaching the two-thirds mark of the 150-game regular season. OKC is 49-50 overall and has not finished its 100th game of a season with fewer than 50 wins since 2019 when OKC went 46-54 through 100 games. OKC posted a 50-50 record through 100 games in 2021 before finishing the last two seasons with at least 60 wins through 100 games, going 60-40 in 2022 and 68-32 last season.

Trey Bien: Trey Sweeney went 2-for-3 with a double, walk, RBI, scored a run and had a stolen base Thursday night as he extended his hitting streak to nine games, batting .421 (16x38) with seven RBI and nine runs scored. The hitting streak is tied for the second-longest active hitting streak in the league and tied for the third-longest hitting streak of the season by an OKC player. Sweeney hit safely in 11 games May 21-June 2 for his longest hitting streak of the season...He now has five multi-hit outings in his last six games since returning from the All-Star Break, including three straight, going 13-for-24 (.542) with six RBI and five runs scored. His 13 hits out of the break lead all Triple-A players...Additionally, Sweeney has now hit safely in 18 of his last 20 games since June 27, collecting 28 hits and 13 RBI and scoring 15 runs while batting .359 (28x78). He has also hit safely in 21 of his last 24 games, batting .337 (32x95) since June 22 with 14 RBI and 16 runs scored...Sweeney leads OKC with 93 games played overall this season - tied for most in the PCL - and paces OKC with 24 hits through 17 games in July. He also ranks among the top 10 league leaders this season in runs scored (7th, 65), doubles (7th, 22), RBI (9th, 62), hits (T-9th, 98) and total bases (10th, 165).

Close Calls: OKC played in its sixth game of the month decided by two runs or less last night as well as the team's 49th game of the season decided by two runs or less, as 49.5 percent of OKC's games so far this season have been decided by those close margins. In July, OKC is 3-3 in those close games and overall this season, OKC is 21-28 in games decided by two runs or less. Only Sugar Land has played in more close games this season (50) in the PCL, but is 29-21 in those games decided by two runs or fewer. OKC's 28 losses by one or two runs are most in the PCL. Since June 1, OKC is 5-14 in games decided by two runs or less...Last night was the fourth time in six games between OKC and Tacoma a game was decided by two runs or less, with Tacoma going 3-1...OKC has played 48 home games, with 26 decided by one or two runs (54.2 percent). OKC is now 24-24 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, with a 13-13 mark in one- and two-run games.

Roller Coaster at the Plate: Oklahoma City was held to three runs and five hits last night, one night after scoring 10 runs on 14 hits Wednesday. OKC is now 2-4 following the All-Stark Break. In the two wins, the team has scored a total of 20 runs with 28 combined hits. But in the four losses, OKC has been held to four runs or less in each game, totaling eight runs with a combined 35 hits...Last night tied OKC's lowest hit total of the month and came after OKC racked up 27 hits over the first two games of the series against the Rainiers...OKC has 10 extra-base hits over the first three games of the series after totaling four XBH over the previous three games and six extra-base hits in the previous five games...In the two wins over the last six games, OKC went 10-for-30 with runners in scoring position. In the four losses, the team went 3-for-34 with RISP...OKC left four runners on base last night - their fewest since July 6 (4 LOB) - but has left 32 runners on base over the first three games of the series and OKC's 798 LOB this season are most in the Minors.

On the Hunt: Hunter Feduccia did not play Thursday but drew three walks Wednesday to extend his career-best on-base streak to 27 games - the second-longest active on-base streak in the PCL and tied for the longest on-base streak of the season by an OKC player with Trey Sweeney. During the streak that started June 6, Feduccia has 27 hits with 17 RBI, 26 walks and 12 runs scored, batting .310 with a .474 OBP. His OBP is tied for second-best in the PCL during that span...He has hit safely in eight of his last 10 games, batting .419 (13x31) with 11 walks and a .581 OBP (OB 25/43 PA)...The last time an OKC player had an on-base streak longer than 27 games was last season when PCL MVP Michael Busch reached base in a 39 straight games June 30-Aug. 16, 2023. A total of three OKC players had on-base streaks of at least 29 games in 2023...Feduccia second third overall in the PCL this season with a .422 OBP and seventh with a .299 AVG. He ranks second among OKC players with 45 walks.

Climbing Up the Charts: Drew Avans drew a walk last night to extend his on-base streak to 15 games for the second-longest active on-base streak by an OKC player. He has 11 hits and 13 walks during the stretch, which is his second on-base streak of the season of at least 15 games...He collected his 414th career hit with OKC Wednesday to move ahead of Esteban Germán and into sole possession of second place all-time during OKC's Bricktown era (since 1998). Throughout this season, Avans has established new Bricktown-era career records for walks (237) and triples (25). He ranks second all-time in the Bricktown era with 427 career games and 110 stolen bases, while ranking second in hits (414) and tied for fourth in doubles (77). Kelly Dransfeldt (1999-2002) is the Bricktown era leader in both games (502) and hits (448)...Avans ranks second in the league with 75 runs scored, second with 56 walks, tied for second with seven triples, fourth with 28 stolen bases and eighth with 99 hits.

The Warden: Ryan Ward leads the PCL with 25 home runs and a .624 SLG. He also ranks fourth in OPS (.962), second with 49 extra-base hits, tied for fifth with 74 RBI and sixth with 186 total bases although he has played in just 74 games, having missed more than three weeks of the season while on the Injured List in May...Including a home run during a rehab assignment in Arizona Complex League, Ward is up to 26 home runs this season - third-most in the Minors.

Around the Horn: Alan Trejo singled and recorded a RBI Thursday as he has hit safely in four straight games, going 7-for-17 (.412). He is 6-for-14 over his first three games of the current series...The OKC pitching staff has kept Tacoma scoreless in 15 of the last 17 innings and 20 of the last 24 innings...This is the eighth time the last nine series OKC has lost two the first three games, including each of the last four series...Following an 11-2 win in Sugar Land June 11, OKC's record was 37-27 - tied for the team's best record of the season at 10 games above .500. Since then, OKC is 12-23 over the last 35 games and is tied for the worst record in the PCL during that time.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from July 26, 2024


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